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Jyrki Jokipakka

David Rundblad, Kevin Czuczman Among Those Signing In Finland

June 23, 2022 at 8:41 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Several players with links to the NHL signed in Finland today, including Stanley Cup champion David Rundblad. The veteran defenseman has signed with Karpat, while Kevin Czuczman, Jyrki Jokipakka, and Eetu Tuulola are among the players joining Ilves.

Rundblad, 31, won the Cup in 2015 with the Chicago Blackhawks, just a year before departing for Europe. A 2009 first-round pick by the St. Louis Blues, his time in North America equated to 121 NHL games, including just eight in the postseason. After winning a Swiss title with the ZSC Lions, he spent several seasons in the KHL, playing for SKA St. Petersburg and HK Sochi. Now his journey will take him to Finland.

The other three, meanwhile, have much more recent ties to North America. Czuczman spent this season with the Iowa Wild of the AHL, and is just over a year removed from suiting up for two NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those were his first NHL games since 2013-14 with the New York Islanders, as he became a full-time minor league player, spending time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Manitoba Moose, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins over the years.

Jokipakka, a seventh-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2011, has 150 NHL games under his belt, including 41 of them in 2016-17. He’s been in the KHL since but now returns home to play for the club that developed him in the first place.

While Czuczman and Jokipakka may be in the back half of their careers, Tuulola only just turned 24 and was still a depth option for the Calgary Flames. He played with the Stockton Heat this season, scoring 25 points in 61 games. Coming off his entry-level contract, the Flames will be able to retain his exclusive negotiating rights if they extend a qualifying offer. Notably, his contract in Finland is for just one year.

AHL| David Rundblad| Jyrki Jokipakka| Kevin Czuczman

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Overseas Notes: Coronavirus, World Championships, Sticks, Jokipakka

March 1, 2020 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

As the coronavirus crisis continues to creep into every corner of day-to-day life, it was only a matter of time before it started to have a major impact on hockey. IIHF President Rene Fasel has revealed to the Swiss media that the threat of coronavirus is being taken seriously as it pertains to upcoming international tournaments. Fasel states that the IIHF’s medical commission is currently meeting to discuss the potential cancellations of any international events in March and April. This would include the U-18 World Junior Championships, scheduled to be held in Michigan in April. Should the sickness persist, the IIHF will also have to consider cancelling the 2020 World Championships, slated to take place in Switzerland in May. Fasel gives March 15th as the date when these difficult decisions will begin to have to be made. This appears to be a decision based wholly on health risks, as the tournaments are insured against cancellation and neither the IIHF nor the hosts would be facing financial loss. With that said, Fasel also ruled out the possibility that tournaments could still be held but just closed to the public. With no end to the coronavirus outbreak in sight, it appears more likely than not that the U-18’s and World Championships this year could be the next victims of the disease.

  • Of course, this is not the first link between coronavirus and hockey, as the mass shutdown of the Chinese economy has greatly limited the supply of sticks to the NHL and other levels of the game. Both Bauer and CCM have their primary factories in the country most greatly affected by this outbreak and neither have been in operation for weeks, while shipping to North America has also been halted. Players across the league have begun to stock up on sticks as they face the possibility of a coming shortage. NHL players, who often order custom sticks in small batches, may have to work with what they have through the rest of the season and possibly into the postseason.
  • In non-pandemic news, former NHLer Jyrki Jokipakka has benefited greatly from a move to Europe. Now with his second team in his third season since leaving North America, Jokipakka was the undisputed top defender for the KHL’s Sibir Novosibirk this season, leading the team in time on ice and finishing near the top in assists, points, and blocked shots. He also finished among the top-ten producers on defense league-wide. While Sibir has not yet begun their Gagarin Cup playoff campaign, Jokipakka is already the bright spot of the season for the team. The club opted to reward him for his success with a new two-year extension. Jokipakka flashed ability in the NHL, but never able to put it all together in stops with the Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, and Ottawa Senators. So, while the 28-year-old could have waited to see if there was NHL interest this off-season, it seems like he has made the right choice to stick with where he has finally found consistent success and is valued as a top contributor.

Calgary Flames| Dallas Stars| IIHF| Jyrki Jokipakka| KHL| Ottawa Senators| Players| Schedule| World Championships

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Snapshots: Blues, Bieksa, Bakos

December 18, 2018 at 6:21 pm CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

For fans of the Blues, hoping that the team can turn the season around, as well as fans of other teams hoping for a chance at acquiring their top players, today’s news comes as a welcome change to the status quo in St. Louis. The Blues announced that three players were back at practice today and looking healthy and ready for game action. Alex Pietrangelo, Carl Gunnarsson, and Robby Fabbri all took the ice today and are expected to return to the lineup as early as tonight, when St. Louis takes on the Edmonton Oilers on the road. “Obviously we missed those guys tremendously”, said teammate Patrick Maroon, one of a number of Blues players who spoke about their excitement to have three difference-makers back at practice. Pietrangelo is clearly the greatest addition to the lineup, but Gunnarsson is also a regular on the Blues blue line and Fabbri has struggled with constant injurie issues for parts of three seasons and St. Louis would like to see him stay healthy for the rest of the campaign. At full strength, the Blues do have plenty of talent on paper and could put together a comeback of sorts this season. However, if that doesn’t happen, the team will continue to take calls on nearly anyone on the roster. GM Doug Armstrong won’t trade anyone whose value has dipped, so getting Pietrangelo and company back to health also improves his asking price should he decide to make some moves down the stretch.

  • On a recent appearance on the “31 Thoughts” podcast with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek, veteran defenseman Kevin Bieksa made it clear that he is not retired. In fact, Bieksa has already committed to play with Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland later this month. A strong performance from the 37-year-old could earn him a contract from a contender for the second half of the NHL season. Brian Gionta and Chris Kelly accomplished similar feats after the Olympics last year and Bieksa has the experience and claims to still have the physical conditioning to follow suit. The long-time Vancouver Canuck and Anaheim Duck was unwilling to sign long-term with any team far from his family in California this off-season, but on a half-season deal he will likely be more open to taking the offer that gives him the best chance at an elusive Stanley Cup title.
  • After his time with the Boston Bruins didn’t go according to plan due to an early-season injury and a lack of opportunity, Martin Bakos had his contract terminated last week after clearing unconditional waivers. He’s now on to a new opportunity, as HK Sochi of the KHL announced that they have inked Bakos to a contract for the remainder of the season. Bakos has several seasons of KHL experience on his resume, but this is first time playing for one of the league’s many Russian squads after previous stints with HC Bratislava in his native country of Slovakia, as well as a year in China with the Kunlun Red Star. Bakos only managed to record four points in 16 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins, a skilled minor league squad, so it will be interesting to see how he performs on a Sochi roster that lacks much talent up front. Bakos joins recent NHLers Jyrki Jokipakka and Yohann Auvitu in Sochi, hoping to push for a playoff spot with the team this season.

AHL| Alex Pietrangelo| Boston Bruins| Brian Gionta| Carl Gunnarsson| Chris Kelly| Doug Armstrong| Edmonton Oilers| Elliotte Friedman| Injury| Jyrki Jokipakka| Kevin Bieksa| KHL| Martin Bakos| Patrick Maroon| Snapshots| Spengler Cup| St. Louis Blues| Team Canada| Waivers

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Morning Notes: Crawley, Anderson, Jokipakka

October 2, 2017 at 10:54 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The New York Rangers have signed Brandon Crawley to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 20-year old defensman was drafted in the fourth round this summer after being passed up in the previous two. Crawley logged big minutes for the London Knights this season, and proved there may be a bit more to his game as he continues to fill out into his 6’2″ frame.

Crawley will spend this year with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL, where he’ll continue his development as a shutdown defender. Without a ton of offensive upside, Crawley could carve out a professional career based on his unstoppable defensive zone work ethic. A prototypical penalty killer, it will be interesting to see how much ice time he is afforded as an AHL rookie.

  • Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 in Vancouver reports that Josh Anderson and the Columbus Blue Jackets are negotiating over term, not money as the team would like to get him under contract for three years. Whether this information is coming from the agent or team is unclear, but one would hope the situation can be resolved quickly if salaries have been agreed upon. Anderson remains unsigned going into the season, and will miss the opener unless he signs in the next day or so.
  • Jyrki Jokipakka has signed a one-year deal with Sochi in the KHL according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express. The former NHL defenseman was in training camp with the Washington Capitals on a professional tryout, but had been cut last Tuesday after failing to impress.

AHL| Columbus Blue Jackets| Josh Anderson| Jyrki Jokipakka| KHL| New York Rangers

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Poll: Which PTO Has The Best Chance Of Making An NHL Roster?

September 5, 2017 at 12:58 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

Teams all over the league are starting to hand out professional tryouts, with Jyrki Jokipakka being the latest with the Washington Capitals. Every year we see some veteran players looking for one last chance, and AHL tweeners trying to claw their way into the NHL. Many of the names that have been given PTOs already won’t play in the NHL this season, and some of them may not play professional hockey at all.

Still, there are almost always a few that earn themselves an NHL contract either with the team whose camp they’re attending, or somewhere else around the league. Kris Versteeg parlayed a PTO with the Edmonton Oilers into a contract with the Calgary Flames last year, and was important enough that he warranted an extension this summer.

17 tryouts have officially been handed out up to this point, with some interesting names among them. Players like David Booth and Ryan Malone have had a lot of success at the NHL level but have been away for several years, while others like Chris Lee are trying to prove that they’ve been overlooked for some time. Who do you think is the most likely to earn a contract at the end of training camp?  You can select as many players as you want from the list of names, and leave a comment if you think they’ll sign somewhere else around the league.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Chris Lee| David Booth| Free Agency| Jyrki Jokipakka| Polls

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Washington Capitals Sign Jyrki Jokipakka To PTO

September 5, 2017 at 10:43 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Washington Capitals have jumped into the professional tryout market, by signing Jyrki Jokipakka to a PTO. Jokipakka played 41 NHL games last season split between the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators, and will try to earn his way onto another roster with a good camp.

Unlike some of the other PTOs around the league that have little chance of earning an NHL contract, Jokipakka enters a situation in Washington with some roster spots available. The Capitals lost Nate Schmidt, Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk this summer to free agency and the Vegas Golden Knights, and didn’t have the cap room to replace them with established NHL talent. Instead, it looked like they were going to have to make a decision between some minor league veterans in Aaron Ness and Taylor Chorney, or younger unproven players in Christian Djoos and Kristofers Bindulis.

The Capitals are pressed right up against the cap after re-signing Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie this summer, and already had to deal Marcus Johansson to clear some room. Players like Jokipakka are opportunities to get NHL talent on minimum contracts, even if he’s not a game-changing talent. The team will have to rely even more on Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson unless someone steps up in camp and makes an impression.

Jyrki Jokipakka| Washington Capitals

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Colorado’s Holes On The Blue Line

August 6, 2017 at 11:28 am CDT | by Zach Leach Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that many people expect the Colorado Avalanche to be the worst team in the NHL again next year. Those who don’t generally put them just ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights, and fighting to be better than an expansion team in their inaugural season is not exactly a great spot for a franchise. However, there was not really much that GM Joe Sakic and the Avs could do this off-season, with so few veteran players on their roster who would have value on the trade market and an understandable reluctance to trade away young talent. In a weak free agent and trade market, no one could have drastically turned the team around either. The rebuild is ongoing in Colorado and they need to take their time with it an do it right so that a 48-point season never happens again.

With that said, it still doesn’t hurt, even for a rebuilding team, to try to be more competitive by adding a veteran player or two. Sakic understands that. He has gone out and added Jonathan Bernier, one of top goalies available, to back up Semyon Varlamov following the expansion selection of Calvin Pickard. He then traded for forward Colin Wilson from the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick, a relative bargain but a draft pick from a rebuilding team all the same. If the team had decided to tank this season, and accept everyone’s expectations of them, they could have just handed those jobs to underwhelming prospects Spencer Martin and Rocco Grimaldi.

Why then does the Avalanche blue line look the way it does then? Even assuming that restricted free agent defenseman Nikita Zadorov re-signs with Colorado as anticipated, that would still give the team just four defenseman on one-way contracts. Zadorov, a 6’5″, 230-lb. behemoth, is just 22 and the centerpiece of the Avs defense, while Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson are talented veterans on long-term contracts. Yet, Johnson is injury-prone and Barrie often struggles in his own end. The fourth man is Mark Barberio, who was claimed off of waivers from the Montreal Canadiens last season and is penciled into a top-four role next season despite regularly playing bottom-pair minutes before arriving in Colorado. Beyond those four, not the most inspiring blue line corps in the NHL by any means, the bottom pair would likely be occupied by AHL veterans Anton Lindholm and Duncan Siemens, who were -10 with zero points in a combined 15 games last year. Other options include Chris Bigras, who has just one NHL game under his belt, first-year pro Andrei Mironov, and free agent addition David Warsofsky. 

Sakic was willing to solidify his net and his forward corps and needs to do the same for his blue line. Zadorov, Barrie, and Johnson are fine for a top three, though each have their issues, and Barberio is a suitable starter. No one will blame the Avs for moving on from aging and ineffective veterans Francois Beauchemin and Fedor Tyutin, but might the team at least look into bringing back one of Eric Gelinas or Cody Goloubef, who both remain unsigned? Even that may not be enough. The obvious top choice would have to be Cody Franson, the top free agent defenseman left on the market. Franson may be a right-handed shot like Barrie and Johnson, but no doubt could help this team and play a major role. Franson could be especially helpful in re-booting an Avs power play that ranked dead last in 2016-17. Another player who could help in that department and with moving the puck could be Dennis Wideman. The veteran rearguard was once a prominent possession defenseman like Barrie and could give a boost to a Colorado offense that is often stagnant. If the Avalanche are shying away from older players like Wideman, they could take a chance on the oft-injured, but talented Simon Despres or on the unproven Jyrki Jokipakka instead. A big move that could be in play if they wanted to take the risk: an offer sheet to young New Jersey Devils puck-mover Damon Severson. Severson had a breakout year last season and looks to be a bona fide top-four offensive defenseman. The Devils are in a similarly rough shape on their blue line and would likely match any deal offered, but it could be worth a shot for the Avalanche, who could desperately use a promising young defender, even with future star Cale Makar coming down the road.

There are many options open to Sakic and the Avalanche and hopefully they find an avenue they like and take it. No one is expecting a rebuilding team to sell off pieces for a premiere defenseman, but they do expect Colorado to at least make an effort to field an NHL-caliber defense. At this point in time, the Avs don’t have that. No one wants to see another 48-point season in Denver. It’s time for Sakic to take action.

AHL| Cale Makar| Cody Franson| Cody Goloubef| Colin Wilson| Colorado Avalanche| Damon Severson| Dennis Wideman| Eric Gelinas| Erik Johnson| Fedor Tyutin| Francois Beauchemin| Injury| Joe Sakic| Jonathan Bernier| Jyrki Jokipakka| Mark Barberio| New Jersey Devils| Nikita Zadorov| Prospects

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Jyrki Jokipakka Will Not Receive Qualifying Offer, Will Play In Europe Next Season

May 30, 2017 at 12:29 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

According to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, Jyrki Jokipakka will not be given a qualifying offer this summer by the Ottawa Senators. The 25-year old defenseman was arbitration eligible and set to become a restricted free agent, but instead will head to Europe to play in the professional ranks there.

Jokipakka was acquired by the Senators in the Curtis Lazar trade at the deadline from the Calgary Flames, but his Ottawa tenure will come to an end before it even really begins. He played just three games for the Senators down the stretch and never suited up in the playoffs. He was apparently next in line behind Erik Karlsson, but the Ottawa captain played on a fractured foot instead of sitting in the press box.

Traded twice in his North American career, Jokipakka looked like he had an NHL future somewhere. While there is no indication where he’ll play next year, the Finnish defenseman played three seasons for Ilves Tampere of Liiga in Finland before coming over to the Dallas Stars’ system. Perhaps he’ll return to his home country and try to rebuild his game.

Arbitration| Jyrki Jokipakka| Ottawa Senators

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Dallas Stars Sign Gavin Bayreuther

March 15, 2017 at 9:05 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Late last night, the Dallas Stars announced that they had won out in their battle with the Buffalo Sabres for the right to sign Gavin Bayreuther. The St. Lawrence University defenseman was a free agent and was considering the two teams up until yesterday. The two sides have come to an agreement and will release details today.

Bayreuther was considered one of the top free agents available from the college ranks this year, and for good reason. The 22-year old defenseman has put up 29 points in two straight seasons and generally been a dominant presence on the St. Lawrence blue line for all four years. He’ll go down as the second highest scoring defenseman in school history, behind only Daniel Laperriere, a former St. Louis Blues draft pick and NHL player.

The 6’1″, 195-lbs Bayreuther has much of what any NHL team would be looking for in a defensive prospect; great first pass, solid decision making, hard shot from the point. It’s mostly his positioning and one-on-one battles that need work, and will be challenged at the next level. With some solid professional coaching, he could turn into a nice all-around defenseman.

For the Stars, adding another prospect to their defensive pool can’t hurt as they look to rebuild what has been a shattered blue line. The team has watched Alex Goligoski, Jason Demers, Kris Russell, Johnny Oduya, Jordie Benn, Jyrki Jokipakka and Trevor Daley all leave one way or another over the past couple of years, leaving them with a makeshift lineup behind the stalwart John Klingberg. Now with the youth of Bayreuther, Stephen Johns, Esa Lindell, Julius Honka, Patrik Nemeth and Dillon Heatherington they’ll be able to fill that pipeline once again.

While this signing doesn’t fix everything there is wrong with the Stars—as no one signing would—it does take another step in the right direction for a team that was in first place as recently as last year. We’ll now see how active they are heading into the expansion draft, where they will have several key decisions to make.

Alex Goligoski| Buffalo Sabres| Dallas Stars| Expansion| Jason Demers| John Klingberg| Johnny Oduya| Jordie Benn| Julius Honka| Jyrki Jokipakka| Kris Russell| Newsstand| St. Louis Blues| Transactions| Trevor Daley

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Expansion Draft Issues: Post-Trade Deadline

March 5, 2017 at 6:51 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 3 Comments

Last month, we looked at several teams facing some tough situations in regards to the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft and offered potential solutions to how they could address their needs for forwards, defensemen and goalies at the NHL Trade Deadline. With March 1st over and done with, many of those squads have solved their problems with signings or acquisitions.

Calgary Flames

Problem: Defense

Status: Solved

The Flames solved their problem of otherwise having to expose Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, or Dougie Hamilton with the ingenious signing of Matt Bartkowski, the only defenseman on the planet who was both free to acquire and automatically eligible for exposure in the draft. It’s a good thing they signed him too, since they ended up trading away their best fall-back option, young defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.

Carolina Hurricanes

Problem: Defense

Status: Unsolved

It was a pretty quiet deadline in Raleigh, as the ’Canes shipped out Ron Hainsey and Viktor Stalberg and then called it a day. What they didn’t do was acquire another body on the blue line to help solve their lack of a defenseman to expose. Carolina is still facing the problem of All-Star Justin Faulk being the only defenseman on the roster currently meeting the criteria for mandated exposure, due to the majority of their defensemen being too young to be eligible altogether. There is no way that Faulk is there for the taking by Vegas, but GM Ron Francis is left with only two choices: extend impending RFA Klas Dahlbeck or extend impending UFA Matt Tennyson and make sure he plays in seven more games this season, as he’s currently short of the 40-game mark.

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Chicago Blackhawks

Problem: Forwards

Status: Solved

While the Blackhawks are always a threat to make a surprising change, GM Stan Bowman went a more traditional route in solving his expansion draft. Faced with the possibility of losing young Ryan Hartman, one of just two players who, at the time, met the criteria for exposure, Bowman simply decided to extend grinder Jordin Tootoo for another year. Tootoo qualifies for the two-forward quota, so regardless of his lack of production, he was a cheap solution to Chicago’s problem.

Dallas Stars

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Stars’s problem wasn’t as simple as trading for or acquiring just one player. They likely will have to decide between exposing Antoine Roussel and Cody Eakin when push comes to shove, but they shouldn’t have to expose both. That is the current state of the Stars after they shipped away several impending free agents at the deadline, but failed to bring in anyone that meets the Expansion Draft criteria. Luckily, they have quite a few options in-house that they could extend and expose such as Ales Hemsky, Jiri Hudler, Adam Cracknell, and Curtis McKenzie. 

New Jersey Devils

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Devils got what they could for their free agent pieces at the deadline, trading away P.A. Parenteau for a draft pick and Kyle Quincey for Dalton Prout. However, they missed out on the chance to fix their forward problem in the Expansion Draft in the process. The Devils want to protect their core five of Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Mike Cammalleri, and Travis Zajac, but that leaves Devante Smith-Pelly as the lone forward who qualifies for the quota. Now, New Jersey and GM Ray Shero are in a position where they must re-sign a young forward like Jacob Josefson, Beau Bennett, or Stefan Noesen (if he plays in 13 more games) and subsequently make them available, which they likely would have preferred not to.

New York Rangers

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Rangers also passed up a chance at solving their draft conundrum on deadline day. New York acquired two forward, Daniel Catenacci and Taylor Beck, but neither one qualifies for exposure. In order for the Rangers to protect all of their impressive, young core forwards, they’ll now need to extend one of Brandon Pirri, Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg or potentially Matt Puempel or Tanner Glass if either one plays another handful of games this season. Regardless, the Rangers don’t need to be overly worried about who they expose as their second forward, as they’ve likely come to grips with the strong possibility that their first forward, Michael Grabner, will be targeted by Vegas GM George McPhee.

Ottawa Senators

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

The Senators were busy at the deadline and their biggest move was also the move that impacts their expansion plans the most, the acquisition and extension of Alexandre Burrows. Although the Senators gave up a potential future star in Jonathan Dahlen to get Burrows, an extension prior to playing a single minute with the team means that GM Pierre Dorian had expansion on his mind. Yet, Burrows only solves one issue, as the Senators needed two eligible forwards – assuming they plan on protecting Bobby Ryan – if they also want to keep Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Derick Brassard, Kyle Turris, and Zack Smith out of the Golden Knights’ grasp. Luckily, they have a veritable laundry list of extension options on the roster now, ranging from recent additions Tommy Wingels and Viktor Stalberg to veterans Chris Neil, Chris Kelly, and Tom Pyatt. 

Philadelphia Flyers

Problem: Goaltending

Status: Solved

Not too many people were excited about this move, but the Flyers announced on deadline day that they had extended struggling goalie Michal Neuvirth for two more years at $2.5MM per year. This means that they can expose Neuvirth to meet the one-goalie quota and protect promising prospect Anthony Stolarz. However, Philly overpaid to make this happen and it seems very unlikely that the Knights would bite on Neuvirth’s new contract. They’re likely saddled with his .887 save percentage and 2.90 goals against average for another two seasons. So really one problem solved, another created.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Problem: Forwards

Status: Solved

The Leaf’s expansion problem was never a big one, it was just that they would have to expose and potentially lose Leo Komarov when they really didn’t have to. They understood the scenario was though and did what was expected of many teams but actually done by no one else: threw in a qualifying forward to an existing deal. Toronto’s trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins was centered around Frank Corrado and a fourth-round pick, but by tossing Eric Fehr into the mix, especially after he cleared waiver, the Leafs now have a body that can occupy the other forward spot in the Expansion Draft and can then be forgotten in the AHL if he isn’t selected. A smart move by the legend, Lou Lamoriello.

Washington Capitals

Problem: Forwards

Status: Unsolved

Finally, the Caps may have made the biggest splash at the trade deadline, but did nothing to help their Expansion Draft situation with two important forwards. Because they can only protect seven forwards, Washington will have to expose one of Lars Eller and Jay Beagle. While it’s a toss up between the two – Eller has had a disappointing season but was acquired just this summer for two second-rounders, Beagle is a career Cap who is a face-off wizard and always good for moderate production – they certainly don’t want to expose both, as they currently would have to. The easiest solution is to extend and expose either Daniel Winnik or Brett Connolly. The again, if the Capitals are confident that Philipp Grubauer is going to be Vegas’ pick, as many are speculating, maybe they just bite the bullet and leave both Eller and Beagle unprotected after all.

 

Adam Cracknell| Ales Hemsky| Beau Bennett| Bobby Ryan| Brandon Pirri| Brett Connolly| Calgary Flames| Carolina Hurricanes| Chicago Blackhawks| Chris Neil| Cody Eakin| Dallas Stars| Daniel Winnik| Derick Brassard| Dougie Hamilton| Eric Fehr| Expansion| George McPhee| Jacob Josefson| Jesper Fast| Jiri Hudler| Justin Faulk| Jyrki Jokipakka| Klas Dahlbeck| Kyle Palmieri| Kyle Quincey| Lars Eller| Mark Giordano| Mark Stone| Matt Bartkowski| Matt Puempel| Matt Tennyson| Michael Grabner| Michal Neuvirth| Mike Cammalleri| Mike Hoffman| New Jersey Devils| New York Rangers| Oscar Lindberg| Ottawa Senators| Philadelphia Flyers| Pierre Dorion| Toronto Maple Leafs| Vegas Golden Knights| Washington Capitals

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